Most workers who deal with computers have experienced the frustration of trying to update and install applications without getting help from an IT services company. Even when such updates are billed as being user-friendly, serious problems and system conflicts can end up being created. One common program that nearly all businesses need at one point or another is Adobe's Acrobat Reader; many other businesses also find Adobe's Flash player to be highly useful. Unfortunately, for these users, Adobe products in general have sometimes created large headaches for business users trying to navigate their complex installation and update process.

A difficult install or update is reason enough to seek the help of professionals visiting from an IT company in a managed programs model for tech support, but problems with Adobe products have actually gone beyond the mere issue of users finding them hard to manage on their own. The products are also frequent targets of hackers that have deconstructed them to find and exploit security vulnerabilities. These two factors, when put together, form a sort of ‘perfect storm’ that, like a real weather event, can end up having very unfortunate consequences for the end user.

Because Adobe products have such a convoluted process for updates, many business users turn off updates completely or ignore the messages, sometimes coming daily, informing them that a new version of Reader or Flash has been released. This puts these users in the position of having outdated software on their systems, which makes those very systems more vulnerable to certain kinds of intrusions.

Another problem is that internal systems conflicts can sometimes make an update essential even though the process itself is such a hassle for non-specialists to navigate. A recent example of this came in mid-May when Mac users received the latest version of the popular Safari browser, which ended up making older versions of Adobe's Flash player unusable.

A managed programs approach to computer support and maintenance can help businesses to more efficiently deal with all of the software they rely upon to process workflow and analyze market conditions. In a managed programs model, IT consultants visit your premises on a scheduled basis to install programs and take care of ongoing needs such as updates. A managed programs staff person or team can take responsibility for all Adobe products if desired, keeping them up to date and functioning correctly so that internal staff never needs to worry about navigating Adobe's laborious update process on their own.